Different governor, but same gridlock at Ill. Capitol

CHICAGO (AP) -- Illinois got a new governor six months ago, but sometimes it seems little else has changed in state government.

Officials still snipe at each other, and Illinois is mired in yet another budget deadlock.

Pat Quinn took over as governor amid high hopes for a new, more cooperative attitude at the state Capitol. And in the weeks after Gov. Rod Blagojevich was booted out of office over corruption allegations, that attitude shone through.

Old patterns emerged, however, as leaders tried to decide how to dig the state out of an $11.6 billion budget hole.

Quinn lectured lawmakers and painted them as insensitive for backing a budget that he says would hurt the state's most vulnerable citizens. Democrats shut out the Republican minority until late in the budget process, and now lawmakers must return to Springfield on July 14 to try again.